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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

The drawings pictured are of a front yard landscape design that I made for my landscape drawing class. I was given some specific guidelines of what I had to include, like a water feature, gradation changes, and I had to keep a rectilinear design. Even with those guidelines it was pretty much a free design exercise, with no budget and no certain region or program we had to design for.

My final design had many subtle grade changes, and included a large pond/pool that expanded into a patio area. Hopefully the drawings speak for themselves!

This link shares a little bit about different landscape geometries: http://landscaping.about.com/cs/history/a/design_history.htm

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Today was the first Review Day of LA3001 "Understanding and Creating Landscape Space." This class is all about creating models. After a couple semesters of drawing and creating two-dimensional art works, it is so rewarding to be able to create three-dimensional spaces that you could imagine occupying.

In this studio-based class, we are instructed to take inanimate objects and use them as inspiration for creating a space. I chose a leaf and a pine cone for my first project. We had just over a week to create a still life drawing, a contour line drawing, an abstract two-dimensional plan, and finally, a final model. The final model had to be inspired by the original objects, but in an abstract way. The drawings were stepping stones for reaching our final product.

Pictured is a view of our studio space and the class during the review, and some photos of my work. I was intrigued by the way the pine cone fanned out, and by the topography the leaf created. I morphed the two together to make the pine cone into the wave motion of the leaf. Review Days in studio classes are like tests. You get your chance to share your work, explain your thought processes, and receive critiquing.

The following link has some TED talks about using nature as inspiration for design, also known as biomimicry: http://www.ted.com/themes/inspired_by_nature.html.

Friday, September 19, 2014

My name is Margo and I am a third year student in the Architecture program here in the College of Design at the wonderful University of Minnesota Twin Cities! I am beyond excited to share my experiences with you this year. This is my first year in the Bachelor of Science program, so everything is just as new to me as it will be to you. Before we dive into everything that this University has to offer, let me tell you a bit about my background:

-- I have wanted to be an architect since I was nine years old. I love being immersed in the design culture that the University of Minnesota and Minneapolis have.

-- I LOVE to travel! So much so that I decided to have the world on my arm permanently :) I will also be studying abroad in Copenhagen in the spring!

-- I am a mother of a 2.5 year old cat named Nathaniel P. Archibald.

-- I have a lot of interest in Sustainability, so I'm a bit of a green freak.

-- I enjoy going to concerts, and Minneapolis is great for doing just that!

I love living, working, and being educated in a city as phenomenal as the Twin Cities. The possibilities are endless. Keep on board with my blogs through this year!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Okay so I'm not REALLY famous... but through my Instagramming and blogging for the College of Design, one of my photos has been published on a magazine cover! Emerging is a magazine by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Design that tells stories of students, alumni and faculty. It's a free magazine and and you can check it out here (that swirly pink picture, yeah, that's mine! And there I am holding it up!). For those of you considering the life of a design student at the U of M, it's a great source to see what's been going on in the College of Design and the kind of things students, alum, and faculty at the U of M are up to!

Who knew that this photo I posted early in the year was being looked at! I guess that just means that you really want to put your best foot forward, and present work that you are proud of and is the best it can be, because you never know who will be seeing it!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

I'm Bethanie and I look forward to allowing you to see into my world as I work through my junior year in the Retail Merchandising program in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities!

Before we dive into this exiting journey, I wanted to share a little information about myself!

-- I love fashion, photography, and makeup. One day I hope to combine these three interests of mine into a career where I can style photo shoots for magazine spreads.

-- Living in a big city is a must for me! I enjoy going to school at the U of M because I love being in the heart of Minneapolis. Minneapolis has a lot to offer, I never find myself bored!

-- I work at Primp Boutique as a Stylist. I get to express my creativity daily in addition to making women feel beautiful and confident in their clothes.

-- I love animals (especially cats) and I have a big heart for bettering my community. I enjoy volunteering both on and off of campus.

-- Traveling is my passion. Despite my fear of flying, I enjoy visiting new places and learning about different cultures. This past summer my Mom and I took a trip out to New York City. I would highly recommend visiting The Big Apple if you get the chance!

Thursday, September 11, 2014

My name is Leah, and I'm a senior graphic design student in the College of Design.

I never thought I would end up at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and I never could've imagined how much I would fall in love with this school, but let's back up a bit.

I lived in a suburb of Minneapolis my entire life and couldn't WAIT to get out of Minnesota after high school. I decided to start my college adventure all the way down at the University of Tampa. However, I quickly learned that not all programs are created equal (and how much I really loved Minnesota), so I decided to come back home and applied to the U of M as a new Transfer Student.

Fast-forward a few months and I was accepted to the College of Design as a Pre-Graphic Design major. I could not be any happier with where I ended up. I could go on forever about why I love the U of M and College of Design, but I'll save that for another post. In the mean time, keep checking back here to find out what I'm up to this year, and I hope that through my experiences you too can fall in love with the U of M!